BBorges

David, It is very clear, and it actually works! Thanks again! BB

Hi Dom, With the risk of being unfair to other great artists here, I have to say I've known your work for years (i had purchased the "countdown template about 4 years ago) and I am very pleased to hear you liked my presentation so far. It is very motivating, because I've been heavily studying your work lately and I simply think you kick ass with your slides. Thank you very much for the input (and thanks for the Charlie Winston's "I love your smile" song in your black frame sample - great artist too). I'll be posting the final EXE here, I believe I am getting somewhere now, with all the help and feedback I have been receiving. I have also 4,600 JPGS from my road trip back in september that I have yet to publish. Your "map slide show" gave me some great ideas too. You are a genius.

Thanks, it seems like the way to go.

:unsure: Okay, I am embarrassed, it did work.

Hi guys, Could someone help me with some basic questions? ---------------------------- Copying Slides: I've found this FAQ from Peter regarding copying slides, but it is NOT working at all. Has this been actually tested on Windows XP Pro? I am sure I am doing the steps correctly (it is actually very simple, unless I am not reading it right). I also attempted to copy the Objects contents from within the slides, and sometimes it copies over, others dont, which makes me believe it is a bug with PTE & XP. ---------------------------- Audio Basics: I am starting to work with audio and I have received a lot of help regarding how to sync and all, but when I was actually trying it, I was confused about something very basic: 1- Why do I have three ways to insert audio: "Project Options", "Add Sound" at the top of the main scren & under "Customize Slide"? 2- What is the difference between "Adding Track" & "Adding Music" under Project Options? ---------------------------- Computer Power: It seems like PTE is causing some hiccups on my desktop when I move objects around. It has also locked my desktop twice. Interestingly, the CPU usage does not even go beyond 40% on any core. And it has happened also that when moving objects around, the Winamp player would stall a bit too. Very weird. My computer is fairly fast and can handle some aggressive PS / LR and Winamp simultaneously. It is a Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 with 4Gb Ram, NVIDIA 8600GTS with 256MB and XP Pro Mounted on OCZ Vertex 2 SSD drive. My PTE says the EXE would be 70MB and the pictures are all in full resolution (between 10MP to 14MP). Has anyone faced these hiccups or mp3 player issues? I suspect maybe 256MB VGA or the Full-res pictures could be the issue, other than some PTE memory management issues. ---------------------------- Adjusting Animation Speed: Okay, here is a big one that is really bothering me: I was following up a video tutorial (forgot the owner's name) and at some point he explains how we have to go under the "Animation Tab", change the speed to "Smooth" for PZR and then go back, select "Setting Up..." and then click on "Separate Here". Okay, in this sample slide show he did it very fast, but yesterday I was working on my current project, and I had 4 slides with about 20 to 30 objects in each... and let me tell you, I wanted to shoot myself after half way through. Please tell me there is a short cut or an easier way of doing that instead of going inside each slide, then opening each object, then selecting "smooth" tree times (for PZR) then selecting "Setting Up" and then... you got the point... It is TERRIBLE. ---------------------------- Thanks in advance for any help you can provide with the questions above. BB

Hi Davy, I am a photographer, so I know very well it boils down to creativity. It may seem like the technical aspects are hard, but they are very easy at the end of the day and then creativity is the differential. Yeah, tough but it makes possible for all these great work we see. And what do you mean by "future release of Video capable PTE"? I am a bit out of the loop, but I thought the current version of PTE was already video-capable with the VB option. Is there something new on the horizon? I've seen threads about PET 7, maybe I should take a look at them...

Hi David, Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear the project is moving in the right direction. Regarding your audio tips, I have a very basic question before I even attempt to apply your suggestions: under "Project Options" > "Music", what is the difference between "Add Music" & "Add Track" ?

Davy, Thanks again for the feedback and ideas. I can see you are absolutely right about everything, but actually doing it is a bit harder: i need to overcome the software learning curve (and I am getting there) then I have to do the hardest: creativity. Yesterday I was working again on the AV, and I finally had a breakthrough with frames: great moment and it has simplified my AV a lot. And I am sure there is a lot more to learn on the software. Regarding the music, I am still not sure if I can synch the soundtrack to a certain point of the slides. The only thing I actually do is edit the mp3 on audacity and make it the correct length (fade in/out), per one of the tutorials. So I am not sure how to create the slides around the sound. It sounds counter intuitive and I can't see that working efficiently. Thanks, BB

Yeah, I suspected I could be overdoing some of the effects and didnt leave enough time for the text. Definitely will take this into consideration for the next revision. Thanks for the feedback! BB

Incredible Davy, loved your slide show and your pictures! Wow, inspiring! I can tell you've been there at the same time I was (temple and man shots) and also other years that I was not, because of the different temple design. I love the soundtrack, the photos (and how you use their forms in sequence) and the quality of the slide show. It is very "chill" and you throw in some rotation and elements, GREAT! I have to ask, how did you do the kid's shot? Was that basically an PS edit with oil/canvas filter and then you fade out the original and fade in the painted photo? Just so smooth.. great idea! The balloon idea is also so nice, it looks so real. Whats the secret here? I also like the effect towards the end, I think you used the rotation? It didnt even occur to use the rotation, but now I see how it works beautifully if used correctly and I'll try it too! Towards the end, the statue shooting fire up in the sky, what a SHOT! Great work man! I can see the PL filter in the early day leading to that blue sky (or just plain PS!) Yes, technically the entire thing would be about 4 mins, right now I am at 2. We need to talk about our crew and also what we are putting together. Or maybe not, i could propose we keep a Burning-Man-only AV and create another for the Village. The project is flexible. Youtube would definitely be the main venue, because we have a blog for the Village and would simply link the youtube on it. And honestly, all crew members could easily spread the word on facebook with youtube links, for instance. But nothing prevents me from also offering the higher quality EXE file. I have to work on the text and I think part of the problem could be the font size (as pointed out). Also, I am REALLY considering the voice-over, it sounds very nice. Regarding the music and how to actually do the things you mentioned, I have not a clue how to do that. This is literally the first PTE file I create with audio. Last thing, do you think you could share the structure of your PTE project? I wouldnt even want the photos, just really the structure to see how you create it. I am having a hard time figuring out the best approach to use PTE. For instance, the slide show I create had only ONE slide in it, and many many objects inside (26 total). I am not sure I am doing this right, because if I am to expand this even more, the list of objects will be much longer. Thanks again, BB

Thanks Hubert, glad to hear I am moving in the right direction!

:D

Peter, Thanks for the feedback. This is the introduction of a presentation about Burning Man. I am part of a crew in NYC putting together a proposal for a Village, and we'll use the slide show to spread the word about our camp. I am working with a writer and hopefully it will make more sense once the entire message is included in the presentation. Regarding the font, I received the same comment from the writer but I am not sure how to address this issue. I am considering other fonts too, and I definitely do not want the pictures to lose space in the slide show. The idea about the voice is INCREDIBLE. I'll bring it to the table. Just fantastic! Thanks a lot!

Hi guys, I would like to get some feedback on this slide show I've put together. I've finally put the time reading the tutorials and manuals for PTE and was able to create a MUCH more complex slide show than previous attempts. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdrkHQu8Tew It is nothing as fancy as some of the pros around here, but i feel it is a step ahead of basic slides. Could someone give me some constructive and/or creative inputs on how to build on top of this? Thanks in advance, BB

Lin / nobeefstu Thanks for the feedback. It definitely has helped with the questions. I was finally able to create a high quality AVI (about 1.5 Gb for 2 mins) and also a high quality MP4 per Lin's suggestions (about 50 Mb) and the difference in quality was minimal. Here is the MP4 video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdrkHQu8Tew So yes, MP4 is the way to go and I am proceeding with VideoBuilder. Thanks again guys, very much appreciated! BB PS. nobeefstu, I knew about the quality settings on youtube, but I realized what happened: I had played the video right after uploading it to the site, and it was not fully processed and it only showed the lower resolution. After few hours it showed the higher 1080p option.

Lin, Thanks once again for the feedback. It seems like MP4 is the way to go, and I wanted to confirm which format would suit me better before upgrading to Deluxe. The thing I find weird is that the MP4 saved under the "YouTube" option is very low quality. Here is the Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFkWtjSJIg If I upgrade to Deluxe, will the quality get better? Is the trial version lower quality? If you tell me MP4 is the way to go, then I'll just forget the AVI comparison and purchase the VB, but I would like to make sure this is the best option before I do so. Thanks, Bernardo

Hi guys, I could use some help understanding how to use PTE to create the best video output for computer (not DVD). I was able to create the introduction to my slideshow but as I tried to use the video outputs, the quality was really bad (compared to the original EXE). Here is the original EXE file (19MB): https://swa.sharefile.com/d/sc780202ba3240219 And here is the MP4 (29MB) file from the option "Publish on Youtube" and "Keep converted file": https://swa.sharefile.com/d/s6ae8b1b73294e82b As you can see, the MP4 is very rough, and actually in Youtube it shows only as 240p (though I did select the HD Quality 1080p). Maybe thats because I am using the VideoBuilder trial? I am not sure. In any case, I can't make the AVI option work to compare to the MP4 output, and I am not even sure I have the proper Audio / Video codecs selected for this task (it gives me an error and a 0kb file is created). Here are the Audio Codec available: - No Compression (PVM) - IMA ADPCM - Microsoft ADPCM - CCITT - GSM 6.10 - DSP Group TrueSpeech - Microsoft G.723.1 - Windows Media Audio V1 / V2 - ACELP.net - IAC2 - MPEG Layer-3 <--- this is the one I had tried For Video Codecs, I have these options: - Cinepak Codec by Radius - Intel 4:20 Video V2.50 - Intel Indeo Video R3.2 - Intel Indeo Video 4.5 - Intel IYUV Codec - Microsoft RLE - Microsoft Video 1 - Microsoft H.263 Video Codec - Microsoft H.261 Video Codec - Indeo Video 5.10 - PictureToExe Video Codec - Full Frames (Uncompressed) So which combination would give me the best AVI quality? I would like to try any combination you guys recommend and compare to the MP4 and understand what is going on. Thanks in advance, BB

Nice! That will definitely save me half of the trouble!! Thanks for the tip! I knew there had to be a simpler way of doing it! If anyone has any other ideas, it is very welcome!

Thanks for the detailed response Lin. 1- I will re-size the photos accordingly the next time. I had received guidance on this before but I didnt realize i needed for what I thought it'd be a small slideshow. I guess it emphasizes how important this is. 2- If I understand what you call "excess border" I think I did have that, because once I insert them as objects, they line up correctly (and they have the same frame-box as the original picture). The way I created then was very simple: open original JPG, double the layer, make the selection, invert selection and delete everything, then delete background and save-as PNG. I am attaching a paired JPG/PNG so if you could tell me I am creating the files accordingly would be great as well. The position issue I was mentioning is after I move the JPG around, I have to find the keypoint for the PNG and match the timeframe and then match Zoom/Position. It seems like every time I move the JPG, I have to make sure the PNG is following the same trace. In this case, making the PNG a child of the original would solve the issue of coordinating the movements with the PNG Your method of creating the PNG is fine. 3- Not totally clear here: you are saying that I should remove the cut-outs from the original JPGs as well? I could do that, but which pixels will make up the image then? Black background? I can almost see what you are trying to say but I am not clear how this would work or help me. Could you clarify this a bit? In the case where the PNG remains and obscures the original image, there is no need. What I was alluding to might be seen in a scenario like this: Let's say you resized the cut-out much smaller. If so, then the original jpg would hold a "duplicate" of your cut-out allowing both to be visible simultaneously. So in the event that you needed to make it appear that the cut-out was "leaving" the original image, you could clone something over the subject in the original jpg so it would appear that when the cut-out zoomed out and/or moved it's position, there would be no duplication. 4- Thanks for clarifying about the frames. I wasnt sure if I should be using it or not. 5- Lin, let me try to explain the goal. For clarity, let's say "JPG" is a regular photo with elements in it, and "PNG" is a cut-out of one element from the same "JPG". With that in mind, lets say I have a JPG_1 slowly moving (or zooming) in the frame, and at some point towards the end of the movement, the correspondent PNG_1 moves faster and takes over the frame. Right at that time, a second JPG_2 fades in across the frame (or zooms) and towards the end of that movement, the second PNG_2 takes over the frame. And this goes on for a list of JPG/PNG. I think so (clear). In such a case you probably won't need to clone over the original and you are presently on the right track. Just make the PNG a child of the jpg (no need for a frame) and the motion will correspond until such time as you decide to move the PNG independently. A "child" can have it's own zoom, pan, rotate, etc., independent of the parent, but will inherit the parent's motion, zoom, etc., as well. Is that clear? I understand the PTE file I created was very limited, but it does illustrate the goal, though it needs a lot of refinement. Any other suggestions? I think you are proceeding correctly with the exception of making the PNG a child of the jpg. Thanks again, BB

Hi guys, After a zillion tutorials and videos I few a lot more comfortable with the software, though I am still very far away from what I actually need to create. I have some fundamental questions that I would like to clarify before I attempt to work on this project and then realize I am headed in the wrong direction. Background: I would like to create a slideshow where certain components of each image "detach" from it and move around the frame. My understanding is I need to create PNG of these cutous to achieve this effect. With that in mind, I went to the photo editor, made selections and created the PNG cutouts. So now coming back to PTE I have the following issues: 1) do I use one slide and put all images/PNGs as objects in this single slide or use multiple slides? 2) Is it recommended to utilize frames for something like this? 3) Should the PNGs be linked to its main photo or not? 4) what is the best structure this presentation? I did attempt a slideshow and here is the structure I used: - (1) slide with (4) pictures as objects inside of it (no frames) - Pictures were all rooted (not child relationship) - The structure looked like this: Objects: - picture1 - picture1DNG - picture2 - picture2DNG Here is the result slideshow: https://swa.sharefile.com/d/sfe063b701044bdda Trying to create the presentation this way seemed very counter intuitive, because I will need a LOT more than two photos (an two correspondent PNGs) and it was very hard to keep track of the KeyFrame Points. Very confusing, and I had to keep on trying to match the PNG size/location to the original JPG so it looked aligned, til the moment the PNG would make its move. I suspect I should be using either frame or child-mother connections with this type of slideshow, but I am not sure. Any help with this regard would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance, BB

Lin, Thanks for the tip about the tutorials, I am already downloading it! And you are absolutely correct! Thanks again!

Thanks for the tip Lin, but I can't seem to find where this thread is. Even did a search for "Smarties" and nothing came up. Could you link it directly here, I am interested on the package. Thanks BB

Well, maybe still on time: why would I need frame with a picture inside of it instead of simply adding a picture directly? I can't still figure out how to use the frame and it's real functionality. Any link to guidelines or explanations on FRAMES? Thanks again!

Hi guys, I have a very silly question but it is driving me crazy I am not able to figure this out. This is under "Objects & Animation": I add a frame and inside this frame I add a picture. I select the frame (and I see the keyframe selected) but whenever I try to move the frame with the click of the mouse, it automatically changes the selection to the picture INSIDE the frame, and the only thing I am actually moving is therefore the picture, not the frame. At first I thought trying to move the frame would not be a legal action, but if I go to "Size/Position" with the frame selected, I am able to move it with the coordinates. So hence the question, how do I move the frame with the mouse? Thanks in advance, BB

Thanks for the clarification guys. How do I proceed to get the two-year VB feature, according to the manual?